Warren Buffett: a billionaire investor with a simple taste

[NEW YORK] The billionaire Warren Buffett was admired as a luxury for his investing skills and a taste for simple things in life and has gained a public affection, even when he has accumulated a fortune for the centuries – Riches that promises the “Oracle of Omaha” to spend.

Buffett rejected hard-working exotic financial vehicles and the brass ankle tactics of corporate rayers and instead pursued a buy-and-hold strategy for long-term investments.

His legacy: Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate based in Nebraska, whose diverse stocks of Duracell batteries to insurers range to painters to diamonds.

The company also keeps carefully selected share participations in US corporate giants such as Coca-Cola and Chevron.

Now, at the age of 94, he is ready to move away from the company he built and announced on Saturday that he wants to resign at the end of the year and will recommend his chosen successor Greg Abel to take his place as CEO of Berkshire.

Accordingly Forbes The real -time list of the magazine on Saturday is its net assets of 168.2 billion US dollars -the fifth largest assets in the world.

Buffett nevertheless avoided the traps of the “one percent”, which is often oriented, and collected the collecting of big ticket art or avoided chic villas around the world.

He still lives in the same house in a quiet area of ​​Omaha, which he bought in 1958 for $ 31,500.

Its gastronomic taste is decisive, including McDonald's chicken McNuggets at least three times a week, potato chips for snacks, ice cream for dessert and average five cans Coca-Cola per day.

His hobbies include bridge and playing the ukulele.

“I don't need chic clothes,” said Buffett 2013 to CBS. “I don't need fancy food.”

Nevertheless, in 2006 he recognized that he had a private jet and said that pleasure made his life easier.

philanthropy

In the same year, Buffett announced that he would donate 99 percent of his assets for philanthropic purposes.

Buffett from his friend and Bridge partner Bill Gates subsequently persuaded Buffett to donate other billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth.

Such campaigns have made Buffett a popular personality within the US company, which is moved to Berkshire's annual meetings every spring in Omaha, which was called “Woodstock for Capitalists”.

The investor has often used his platform to comment on economic policy or to express a wealth of topics, from the questionable value of Bitcoin to US President Donald Trump.

Buffett has been open to the support of the Democratic Party in the past and often expressed the view that his taxes must be higher in the face of his assets.

Early business instincts

Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 in Omaha as the second of three children and discovered an early taste for business after reading the book A thousand options to earn $ 1,000 As a little boy.

Buffett's childhood was not easy. He described that he was going through and was forced to navigate a shoplifting phase of navigating his abusive mother Leila, which his sister Doris described as “stupid”.

He intended to give up his studies, but this idea was made by his father, a businessman and politician who served in the congress.

He visited the University of Pennsylvania as a student before moving to the University of Nebraska, where he completed a degree in companies.

He later received a master's degree in economics at Columbia University in New York in 1951.

Buffett worked on Wall Street in the 1950s and founded the Buffett Partnership, which was brought together in 1965 with Berkshire Hathaway, a textile company.

Buffett, an enthusiastic reader of the financial press and beyond, went out to investments that he believed that they were undervalued and they held until they paid off.

He converted Berkshire into a far away conglomerate, which was known for investments in nuts and bolt sectors such as energy, banking, air travel and food. The participation also includes Citigroup, Kroger, Apple and American Express.

Active in his 90s

The white-haired buffet, which attracts classic gray suits, glasses and colored ties, remained a lively player in the US business scene in the 90s.

With his long -time deputy chairman Charlie Munger, for six years, he ran with his long -time deputy chairman Charlie Munger.

When Buffett became 90 in 2021, Berkshire Abel officially described his successor – a plan that now seems to be in motion.

Buffett married his first wife Susan in 1952. They had three children. Although they lived separately for decades, they remained married until their death in 2004.

He then married his long -time partner Astrid Mens in 2006. AFP